Annual Report 2009-10: Marywood Highlights

The 2009-2010 academic year began with 14 new faculty members and 1,091 new students from 24 states and 8 countries, bringing the student body to 2,193 undergraduates and 1,236 graduate students for a total of 3,429 students, the majority of whom are full-time. The incoming freshmen were from 232 different high schools, along with transfer students from 59 different colleges or universities. There were 1,000 students residing on Marywood's campus--a four percent increase from the previous year.

Beginning July 1, 2009, Marywood University began using QuikPAY®, an electronic system for all students to view their bills, print their bills, and make payments online. Through the QuikPAY system, an e-mail is sent to each student's official Marywood University e-mail address and any authorized payer's e-mail address every time a new Student Billing Statement is ready.

Marywood University's new synthetic turf multi-purpose field hosted its inaugural collegiate game on Tuesday, September 1, 2009, as the defending CSAC women's soccer champions. The game was the first official match on the new field--Marywood's first athletic field with outdoor lighting, to make evening games possible.

The foremost athletic accomplishments in 2009-10 included: a Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) championship and NCAA tournament berth won by the Men's Tennis Team; 140 individual and team records set or tied; a .52 overall winning percentage with 12 of 14 teams qualified for CSAC playoff participation; 64 students earned All Conference honors and 14 were selected as "Players of the Week"; a women's soccer player was named CSAC Player of the Year while another was selected as CSAC Rookie of the Year; the Women's Soccer and Women's Cross Country Coaches were chosen Conference Coach of the Year.

On September 1, 2009, Northeast Pennsylvania's first Architecture students stood in awe, and then scattered to take hundreds of cell phone photos, mingle with their new classmates, and then listen attentively as they witnessed what everyone had been waiting more than a year for--the opening of the first academic year for the new Center for Architectural Studies.

Dr. Phyllis Black, Director of the Marywood University-Lehigh Valley MSW Program, received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Social Workers Pennsylvania Chapter, for her distinguished service to the profession.

Dr. Bradley Janey, Associate Professor of Psychology/Counseling, was named a 2010 Fulbright Scholar. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. Through the Fulbright award, Dr. Janey will live at Tomsk State University in Tomsk, Russia.

Marywood University's Dean of the Architecture School, Greg Hunt, FAIA, was the 2009 recipient of the Virginia Society American Institute of Architects' (AIA) most prestigious award, the William C. Noland Medal.

Marywood University collaborated with the University of Scranton to offer a three-part human rights presentation, including a film screening of The Devil Came on Horseback, an award-winning film about an ordinary American who chose to make a difference when presented with a moral dilemma in Darfur; the appearance of the film's co-author and producer, Gretchen Wallace, who recounted her global experiences and discussed empowering others through social entrepreneurship, and the performance of Darfur by the Rebecca Davis Dance Company, a program inspired by the events in the documentary The Devil Came on Horseback. The dance company also provided an exclusive workshop for the Marywood University dance students before the performance.

Retired Brigadier General Richard M. O'Meara, a member of the organization Human Rights First, appeared on campus to discuss the issues of human rights and nationalism--particularly those of Cambodia, Rwanda, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, and Darfur.

U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) and his wife, Mrs. Terese Casey, launched a tour across Pennsylvania for the exhibit Witnesses to Hunger, a photography project documenting hunger and poverty in Philadelphia on Monday, November 16, 2009, at Marywood University. This project began at Drexel University in Philadelphia with 40 women capturing their daily struggle with hunger through the use of digital cameras. The project has been expanded to women in Scranton and will continue to expand to capture the universal struggle with hunger.

The Marywood University String Project, under the direction of Sophie Till, won the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) String Project of the Year Award.

In an effort to respond to the suffering of the Haitian people in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that hit the island nation in early 2010, various fundraising initiatives were begun on campus and a Marywood University Haiti Relief Fund was established. It has raised nearly $14,000 to date.

Marywood University broke ground in April 16, 2010 for the new Aquatics Center and Woodland Residence Facilities II. The new Aquatics Center, which will provide recreation and competitive opportunities for the campus community, as well as for regional schools and organizations, is set to open in Spring 2011. Two new varsity teams, men's and women's swimming and diving, have been added to Marywood's athletics program. The Woodland Residence Facilities II was ready for the Fall 2010 semester and presently houses about 80 resident students. (At Left)

Sister Anne Munley, IHM, President of the University, was profiled in the Spring 2010 edition of Education Executive Magazine. The in-depth profile of Sister Anne highlights many of the progressive things happening at Marywood, from the region's first School of Architecture to the reclamation of 45 acres of mine-scarred land in a section of its campus.

Marywood University held its second annual Electronics Recycling event on April 17, 2010. Individuals, businesses, and organizations were encouraged to bring their old electronic items to campus to be properly recycled by Waste Management. The group anticipated recycling about 15 tons of unwanted electronic equipment, but surpassed its goals exponentially by collecting nearly 35 tons! Cars lined the campus, and the response was so great that some had to be turned away. Plans are already in place for a third e-cycling event in 2011.

Approximately 56,000 students, staff and recreation association members used the Mellow and former HPE Centers from July 2009 - June 2010.

William E. Strickland Jr., President and CEO of Manchester Bidwell Corporation and its subsidiaries, Manchester Craftsmen's Guild (MCG), and Bidwell Training Center (BTC), was the keynote speaker at Marywood University's Commencement on May 9, 2010, at the Mohegan Sun Arena, Wilkes-Barre. He was awarded an honorary doctoral degree during the ceremony, as was Peter Q. Bohlin, a regional architect and the founding partner Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, which has grown into a nationwide, award-winning architecture firm. Also honored with posthumous degrees were two students, Tara Lee Ruddy and Kelly Erin Ruddy, sisters whose lives ended due to separate, tragic circumstances.

Approximately 67,000 hours of service were performed by students during 2009-10; the new year began with the coordination of the Passport to Scranton Fair during Fall Orientation that enabled more than 80 community service agencies to display programs and introduce students, faculty, and staff to the service opportunities offered.